


First Kiss, Take Two

by edenofalltrades



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Damerey Week, F/M, Feelings Make People Insecure, First Kiss, Fluff, In-Canon Swearing, Miscommunication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 16:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16370894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenofalltrades/pseuds/edenofalltrades
Summary: Poe Dameron has screwed up a lot of things in his life. When he thinks he screws up his first kiss with Rey, he's determined to make things right.





	First Kiss, Take Two

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars and will not be making any profit from this story. 
> 
> Written for Day 3 of Damerey Week 2018, posted on Day 7. But hey, better late than never, right?
> 
> A huge thank you as always to my beta readers taidine, [niux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/niux/pseuds/niux), and KD.

_Kriffing hell._

Poe Dameron didn’t even bother turning the lights on in his quarters before he slammed down on the bed. Reaching for the first pillow he could find, he put it over his face and screamed.

Poe had screwed up plenty of times, but not like this. 

The door to his room opening and closing, followed by a series of mechanical beeps, alerted him to the presence of his astromech.

“Not now, BeeBee,” Poe groaned.

“Master-Poe, are you injured after the mission? Do you require medical assistance?” BB-8 rolled over to Poe’s bedside and initiated a basic body scan.

“I’m fine, Bee.” At least physically he was… for the most part. Nothing a trip to the ‘fresher and sleep couldn’t fix.

“Your heart rate is elevated,” BB-8 noted. “Is this because you kissed Friend-Rey?”

Poe shot up in bed. “You saw that?!”

“Everyone saw that.” If a droid could manage an exasperated tone, BB-8 just nailed it.

“Kriffing hell.” Poe scrubbed his hand over his face.

“Does this mean you and Friend-Rey are together like Friend-Finn and Friend-Rose now?!” BB-8 chirped excitedly.

“Not quite, Buddy,” Poe chuckled dryly. “How did she react after I left?”

“She ran away,” BB-8 beeped despondently.

“See what I mean?”

BB-8 lowered its head and let out a sad beep.

“But Friend-Finn and Friend-Rose kiss all the time. I thought now that you and Friend-Rey kissed, it would mean you are together as well.”

“I know, Buddy.” Poe reached over to scratch BB-8’s head gently. “I wish that was the case, too, but I screwed up, so I don’t think it’s in the cards anymore.”

As soon as Poe reunited with BB-8 after they separated in Jakku, all the astromech wanted to talk about was “Friend-Rey”. How she saved him, how brave she was, how kind she was… If Poe didn’t know any better, it almost sounded like a young child asking a single Dad to make the nice lady they just met their new Mommy.

When Poe finally saw her in action on Crait, he was speechless. The way she went from saving them, all cool, calm, and collected, to warm and friendly as she hugged Finn damn near made him fall in love with her right then and there. That wasn’t even mentioning how she handled herself in the cockpit. The way she flew the Millenium Falcon — a ship he had heard so many stories of growing up — was nothing short of breathtaking.

So when they finally found a steady base to use and Poe got the opportunity to spend more one-on-one time with Rey, he jumped at the chance. No longer being on the run meant being able to build their fleet back up, and while his new (used) X-Wing was nothing like Black One, it did fly. And it piqued the curiosity of a certain Jedi-in-training who spent hours helping Poe with the repairs and tweaks it needed.

By the time his ship was ready, he and Rey had spent several months getting to know each other. As he got to know her better, he saw all the qualities BB-8 had told him that first day back. But beyond that, seeing her work on his bird stirred something inside him that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Just as water was wet, and Kylo Ren was a menace to the galaxy, Poe Dameron was smitten with Rey from Jakku.

He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms at night while they slept, to kiss her senselessly in the morning, to fly besider her on missions and have meals together in the canteen where he would let her steal whatever extra thing she wanted from his plate as long as it made her smile. But he also knew he had to be smart about it. After all she had been through, Rey deserved to be romanced properly.

So he vowed that as soon as he got back from his next supply run, he would take her out to a nice, private dinner somewhere on base where he would make an official declaration of his feelings. If she didn’t reciprocate he would have to accept it, but he wasn’t about to give up without at least trying.

“How long is the mission again?” Rey asked as she ran her hand over the side of his X-Wing.

“Should be no more than two weeks,” Poe commented absentmindedly while he checked the straps of his flight suit.

“Two whole weeks, wow. How am I going to survive so long? The base will be too quiet,” Rey teased.

Poe looked up at her grinning face. “Ha ha sunshine, I’m going to miss you, too.”

He pulled her in for a hug, thanking the Force he was one of the few people who was allowed to do so freely.

“Come back safe, fly boy,” Rey said as they pulled apart.

“I always do,” he assured her. With one final squeeze on his bicep, Rey nodded and walked away.

The mission was going well until the very end. Poe was on track to get back on base in the two week frame he told Rey, even with a chance of getting in early, when a group of First Order goons found his squadron. Wanting nothing more that to get back to Rey, but knowing he couldn’t put himself above the other members of his team, Poe volunteered to distract General Sux so the others could get away.

It took more time to outmaneuver the ships, but Poe had done it before and he would be damned if he didn’t get back to the base to give Rey the Koyo melons he bought specifically for her. Three days after he convinced the rest of his squadron to leave him behind, and seventeen after he left the base, Poe finally made it back — exhausted and worn out, but happy to finally be home.

The hangar bay slowly filled in with people as Poe pulled in. Finn was the first to approach him, helping him out of the cockpit. Rey followed her friend after a few minutes, walking over shyly at first, then launching herself into his arms and hugging him tightly.

“I thought you were gone,” she quietly murmured into his chest.

“I’m sorry, sunshine,” Poe cooed as he pulled her in tighter.

Rey looked up at him, blinking back tears. Later on, Poe would swear his brain short-circuited, because the next thing he knew, he was cradling the back of her neck and kissing her like his very life depended on it. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before rational thought came back to his brain and he realized exactly what he was doing.

Letting go of Rey like every point of contact was burning him, Poe looked over to see what her reaction was.

“Oh…” Rey whispered, brow furrowed, hand touching her lips.

“I have to go,” Poe muttered, walking away from the hangar.

He was stupidest man in the whole kriffing galaxy! Why would he actually think she would want to be with him? Rey was the most extraordinary person he had ever met and she deserved someone of her caliber. Poe was dumb to think he was even remotely in her league.

He knew he had to find some way to make it up to her, but in the meantime Poe figured the best thing would be to avoid her. After spending so much time with her during the months prior, he had a pretty good idea of her schedule, which helped him figure out when to avoid certain areas, even if it meant eating at odd hours of the day.

It would be better one day, he told himself. He just needed to think of a damn good way to apologize.

“DAMERON! WE NEED TO TALK!” Poe could hear Rose from halfway across the canteen. So much for keeping a low profile.

“Yes, Rose?” he asked in a hushed tone as she and Finn sat across from him, hoping she would take the hint.

“‘Yes, Rose?!’ Is that all you have to say to me?! Really?! I ought to use my electro-shock prod on the highest setting after what you did to my friend!” Rose spat.

“After what I…” Poe started.

“You hurt Rey!” Rose seethed, in full protective friend mode.

“I hurt Rey?” Poe repeated as he tried to process the situation.

“Yes, bantha brain!” Rose swore, looking like she was about to jump across the table and strangle him. For someone as small as she was, she could be truly terrifying if she wanted to be.

“Okay,” Finn put his arm around Rose’s shoulders. “We’re not exactly helping the situation that way.”

“Thanks, man,” Poe sighed.

“Oh, I am not on your side in this,” Finn insisted. “I’m just more willing to give you a chance to fix the mess you made than Rose is.”

“I mean…” Poe started, running a hand through his hair. “I know she wasn’t happy that I kissed her that day but I thought I was doing her a favor by avoiding her.”

“Ohhhhh!” Rose and Finn said in unison.

“Ohhh? What ohh?!” Poe asked, furrowing his brow.

“These last few days Rey hasn’t been able to figure out what she did wrong,” Finn explained. “She told us she was afraid that because she didn’t have as much experience kissing people, she did something wrong. But she didn’t think she was bad enough that you would actually avoid her.”

Poe’s heart sank. “She actually wanted to kiss me?”

“Yes, laserbrain,” Rose snorted. “The entire time you were gone, you were all she could talk about. ‘I can’t wait until Poe gets back.’ ‘I wonder what Poe is doing right now.’ ‘You know what Poe would say about this?’ It was getting annoying.”

Poe’s head was spinning. Rey, the most amazing woman he’d ever met, had actually been interested in him the entire time he was pining for her! And as soon as he kissed her, he walked away!

 _Way to send mixed signals, Dameron_ , he mentally berated himself. Poe would sooner go back for more “bonding time” with Kylo Ren than know he hurt Rey, but the damage was already done. He still had his original plan...

“I have an idea on how to fix this, but I’m going to need your help,” Poe pleaded.

“It better work,” warned Rose, “or I’m using my prod!”

“If my plan doesn’t work, you can tase me every day for a month,” Poe promised. It wasn’t like he had much to lose if his plan failed anyway.

The promise to make things up with Rey and the threat of bodily harm if he didn’t seemed to be enough to get the help of Finn and Rose. It took pulling a few strings and calling in some favors from a few other people, but three days later, his plan was fully in motion.

Despite the size of their base, there weren’t many truly private places on it. There was, however, a small office off to the side that Finn and Rose told him about that tended to be empty. Taking a few plates of Rey’s favorite meal from the canteen, the Koyo melons he got especially for her, and a few extra candles he managed to bargain for on the last supply run, he set up a candlelit picnic for them.

All he had to do was wait and hope Rose didn’t change her mind about helping.

“Rose, why are you taking me here?!” Upon hearing Rey’s voice near the door, Poe got up, straightening his jacket.

“Rose?!” Rey’s tone turned to one of panic when Rose all but shoved her in the room and closed the door behind her.

“I asked,” Poe started to explain, only to be cut off by a scream from Rey. “Rose to bring you down here.”

“So you avoid me for almost a week, then get my friend to bring me down to some creepy, hidden room on the base with no explanation?!” Rey sneered. “You’re lucky I didn’t punch you.”

“Okay, I deserved that,” Poe admitted, raising his hands as a sign of goodwill. “Just please hear me out.”

“Why should I?” Rey crossed her arms. “You felt fine not speaking to me all week.”

“Sunshine…” At Rey’s sharp intake of air Poe knew he had started off on the wrong foot. “Sorry, Rey, please, let me explain what happened and if after that you still don’t feel like talking to me, you don’t have to ever again.”

“Okay,” Rey sighed, moving over to sit in the chair next to where Poe was standing. Following her lead, Poe sat down in front of her.

“I just wanted to say that none of this is your fault and I am so sorry for making you feel like you did something wrong,” Poe started. “The fact of the matter is that I have been wanting to kiss you for a long time, I just wanted it to be more special than a spur of the moment thing when I came back from a supply run smelling like bantha shit. Kriff, Rey, you deserve so much more. And when you reacted the way you did, I figured I made a mistake in kissing you in the first place.”

“I reacted that way because you surprised me,” Rey explained, taking one of Poe’s hands in both of hers. “And I don’t care if it’s some spur of the moment thing after a supply run, or if we’re working together to fix something, or if it’s at a beautiful dinner like you’ve set up here… the thing that makes it special is that it’s **you** , you silly, sweet man.”

“Really?!” Poe’s heart soared.

“Yes! Now, kiss me again before I take matters into my own hands!” Rey grinned.

Using her hands as leverage, Poe pulled Rey into his lap, smiling at the little yelp she let out at the sudden shift in position.

“Hi,” he breathed.

“Hi,” she repeated.

Poe cupped Rey’s cheek, running his thumb along her jaw. Breaking eye contact, he scanned her face, trying to commit her features to memory. Leaning forward, he captured her lips in a gentle kiss. Rey responded enthusiastically, carding her hands through his hair. As the kiss got more heated, Poe curled an arm around Rey’s back to pull her in closer. They eventually pulled apart, pressing foreheads as they tried to even out their breathing.

“Better?” Poe asked.

“Well, you aren’t running away, so that’s a good start,” Rey teased.

“Are you ever going to let me live that down?” Poe groaned.

“Maybe,” Rey teased as she kissed his cheek. “Now tell me about this feast you put together, I’m starving!”

As if on cue, Rey’s stomach growled loudly.

“I was in luck because they had your favorite in the canteen today,” Poe commented, lifting the lids from the plates to reveal the Nerf steak stew Rey loved so much. “I also managed to get some Koyo melons on the supply run. From what I know these are rare on Jakku, but my father had a whole grove of them back at home.”

“That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,” Rey grinned, kissing Poe softly before climbing off his lap to dig into the food.

When they kissed again later that night, the taste of Koyo melon on Rey’s lips reminded him of home, and the feeling of her in his arms made Poe Dameron feel like the luckiest man in the entire galaxy.


End file.
